BASEBALL; Surhoff Planning A Meeting With Mets

The New York native, a free-agent left fielder, plans to meet the Mets next Tuesday as he continues to sort out his possible homes for the next few seasons.

The Mets, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles have expressed interest in Surhoff, though the Mets and the Pirates seem to be more interested.

Surhoff played for the Orioles the last three seasons, but they have made the least desirable offer.

''Going to Pittsburgh convinced him he could play in Pittsburgh,'' Gregg Clifton, Surhoff's agent, said yesterday, referring to a visit with the Pirates on Monday. ''He knows he could play in New York with the Mets.''

Clifton was less certain about the Orioles, who last weekend added an option year to their three-year offer to Surhoff but altered the payout in a way that would be less attractive to Surhoff and left in the $3 million over the life of the contract that would be deferred without interest.

The Pirates have offered a four-year contract, the Mets three years with an option for a fourth. Neither of those offers includes deferred payments.

Surhoff, 34, would bolster the weakness the Mets have in left field. Barring an acquisition, they have Butch Huskey and Jay Payton as possibilities for the position. But they have also considered the possibility of pursuing Rickey Henderson as a free agent.

Henderson, who turns 40 on Christmas Day, batted .236 for Oakland last season, but led the majors in stolen bases with 66 and could fill two spots on the Mets: left field and leadoff batter.

If the Mets signed Surhoff, they would leave Edgardo Alfonzo at third base and try to get a second baseman who would be their leadoff hitter.

If they failed to sign Surhoff and decided not to go after Henderson, they could continue their efforts to sign Robin Ventura to play third and move Alfonzo to second.

The Mets have not let it be known whether they prefer to sign Surhoff or Ventura.

ARMANDO REYNOSO, who was 7-3 with the Mets last season, has received a two-year guaranteed $5.5 million contract offer from the Arizona Diamondbacks, his agent, OSCAR SUAREZ, told Bloomberg News yesterday. Reynoso, a 32-year-old right-hander who is a free agent, has a career record of 46-38 but underwent ligament transplant surgery to his right elbow in 1994, and had arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow and shoulder in August 1997. The Diamondbacks made their offer after Reynoso passed a physical examination in Phoenix over the weekend. It includes a third-year option that could increase the overall package to $10.5 million. Suarez said he would confer with the St. Louis Cardinals, who had expressed interest in the pitcher, before completing the deal with Arizona. The Diamondbacks added the free-agent pitcher TODD STOTTLEMYRE to their rotation last week.